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Beans

Maturity and platforms

This page describes the current status of Beans: what works, what is still being proven, and which platforms are supported.

Where Beans stands

Section titled “Where Beans stands”

Beans is a preview on the 1.0 stabilization line. Each part of that phrase means something specific:

  • The language contract is the 1.0 candidate. Compatibility remains a goal; the pre-1.0 line can still change. Pin the compiler and dependencies.
  • This reference tracks compiler release 0.1.53. Release checks test the compiler. Applications need their own tests.
  • The runtime ABI is 23.

It is a preview, not a finished 1.0. It is usable, but the full 1.0 release still has open work, listed below.

What is implemented

Section titled “What is implemented”

The list below is what works today:

  • A self-hosted compiler. beansc is written in Beans. Its stage 2 and stage 3 builds are byte-identical, the standard proof that a compiler reproduces itself.
  • A full front end. Whole-program loader and resolver, a generic checker, typed custom annotations and reflection, private/static/singleton/abstract object features, a high-level IR (HIR), and a checked mid-level IR (MIR) with ownership verification.
  • A native backend. MIR compiled to LLVM for debug, release, and LTO builds, with automatic reference counting plus a cycle collector.
  • A reference interpreter checked against native execution by behavioral suites. Backend limitations and skipped platform checks remain relevant.
  • Concurrency. Fibers with brew, OS threads, typed atomics, mutexes, channels, and readiness waits.
  • Package management. Canonical package identity, a hashed beans.lock, locked and offline builds, and a Git cache.
  • Full C interop. Imports, exports, headers, bindgen, records, unions, globals, thread-local storage, errno, and callbacks.
  • Editor and debugger support. A semantic LSP and an interpreter DAP.
  • Systems access. Files, memory mappings, processes, sockets, DNS, polling, signals, shared memory, dynamic libraries, SIMD, and intrinsics. Every capability on the project’s 100-point systems-access scorecard is implemented.
  • Typed encoding. Generated JSON and XML decoders write nested structs, lists, and options directly, with compile-time mapping checks and XML namespace URI matching.

Thirty targets are registered. Release v0.1.50 passed its 26 required host package/install gates; that does not certify every library or application on those targets. Published release evidence is recorded in the compiler’s issue and release audit.

Initial dependability pilot

Section titled “Initial dependability pilot”

Start with small command-line data tools on macOS ARM64 and Linux x86_64 (GNU), where local SQLite checks passed under both interpreter and native execution. Check that these platforms support the work users need to do. Passing local tests does not show that users can complete their tasks. Use the standard library and the existing SQLite package. Read records, validate and transform them, persist them, and compare a deterministic report between interpreter and native execution. Each dependency must pass its own supported-platform and failure checks.

The contributor pilot checklist records setup, malformed input, duplicates, failed writes, locked/offline builds, and repeat execution. It also supplies five prospective-user interview prompts. Those interviews, retained users, two successful upgrades, and sustained service operation have not been established by the compiler gates. Widen scope after independent projects provide that evidence.

What is still open before 1.0

Section titled “What is still open before 1.0”

Beans is not calling itself production-ready 1.0 yet. These items are open:

  • Clean performance baselines against the benchmark suite.
  • A 24-hour fuzz campaign.
  • A 30-clean-day public beta, then a 14-clean-day release candidate.
  • No open critical or high correctness bugs.

When those are done, the preview becomes a full release.

Supported platforms

Section titled “Supported platforms”

Required native 1.0 CI hosts

Section titled “Required native 1.0 CI hosts”

These three platforms are the ones the 1.0 release must build and pass on, and they are the most tested:

  • macOS arm64
  • Linux x86-64 (GNU)
  • Linux arm64 (GNU)

Preview targets

Section titled “Preview targets”

These have preview build or execution gates. They are not part of the 26 host installer archives and do not carry a production-support claim:

  • WebAssembly
  • Bare-metal Cortex-M4 (thumbv7em-none-eabi)
  • Bare-metal RV32 (riscv32-unknown-none-elf)

For how the language, compiler, and ABI version numbers relate, see Versioning. To try the preview, install Beans.